At 5 PM, the exhibition hall closed, and staff from booths with exhibition areas were packing up their own stalls.
Some looked excited, others dejected; such expressions were visible daily during the exhibition.
In a feast of wealth, there are winners and losers.
Starting a business in an era of growth is indeed much easier than in an era of existing markets, and it's the best choice, but it's also not without fierce competition and financial ruin.
The investment for one Canton Fair is not low, but the returns can be substantial, so it's understandable that many companies participate with a "betting" mentality.
After returning to the hotel, Tan Jincheng took out 2000 yuan from his wallet and handed it to Sun Yuming:
"Sun Ge, you and Liu Ge go order a table of food from nearby and bring it back. Tonight, we'll celebrate properly."
"Alright, Boss."
Sun Yuming happily took the money and said.
"Wouldn't it be more enjoyable to celebrate by eating out? Why buy it back to eat?"
Zhang Xupeng asked puzzledly.
He'd been eating in the hotel these days and was almost bored to death.
"Boss, what the boss means is that it's better to keep a low profile right now. If we go out and get drunk and something happens, it'll be quite troublesome,"
Sun Yuming explained.
"Alright, alright, make a fortune in silence, I get it, go ahead,"
Zhang Xupeng said with a pout.
It's all Xiao Tan's fault for describing the public security here as so terrifying, making everyone now afraid to go far or even go out at night.
Every day they just come back and watch TV idly.
Sigh, earning so much money but unable to brag, it's really annoying!
How about calling my parents tonight?
Tan Jincheng nodded in satisfaction.
Sun Yuming was two years older than him and Zhang Xupeng.
After working for a while, Tan Jincheng also discovered that this guy was quite clever.
He might not be good at sales, but he was quite reliable for handling other tasks.
He's diligent at running errands, clever, and quite meticulous, it's just that he needs to work on keeping his mouth shut.
Some details about Dongguan were accidentally revealed by him.
But it's also possible this guy did it on purpose.
After all, Zhang Xupeng is also a boss.
Tan Jincheng might not mention such trivial matters, but if he and Liu Wenbin kept hiding things from Zhang Xupeng, there's no guarantee Zhang Xupeng wouldn't get angry later.
There are no major flaws, but what if they are no longer included in such good opportunities in the future?
Given the current size of Jinpeng Trading, it's indeed difficult to recruit excellent talent.
Having a few competent individuals is already good.
University graduates are highly valued these days; unless you break the company's salary structure and offer monthly salaries of tens of thousands, people won't even bother with you.
Educational discrimination was still very serious in this era.
When Gu Qingqing said that Tan Jincheng only had a high school education, the reactions of her roommates clearly showed it.
Tan Jincheng had also investigated the educational levels of many manufacturing companies.
Even some larger private enterprises had relatively low educational levels.
The later era's casual requirement for a bachelor's degree even from mediocre companies would be considered wishful thinking in this era.
However, it was much better than the 1980s and 1990s.
With economic development, this situation would change day by day.
In the future, university graduates would be much easier to recruit.
Jinyi Industry, no matter what, must recruit several highly educated technical talents.
It's not that there are no high school graduates doing technical work, and there are even geniuses, but without systematic learning and connections from a university alumni network, their room for progress is always limited.
In the future, whether building two-wheeled electric vehicles or four-wheeled electric vehicles, a large number of technical talents will be needed.
This is a headache.
Should we pay high prices to poach some talent from competitors who are already doing this?
However, when it comes to two-wheeled electric vehicles, it's not an exaggeration to say that the domestic market is just starting.
Tan Jincheng checked the official trademark registration website and found that well-known brands like Aima and Yadea from later generations had not even been registered yet!
Calculated this way, everyone is at least on the same starting line, so things will be much easier.
With some memories from his previous life, coupled with Jinpeng Trading now being able to solve some cash flow issues, it won't be particularly difficult to gain a certain market share in the two-wheeled electric vehicle market.
However, Tan Jincheng never thought of preemptively registering their trademarks.
That would be disadvantageous, as it would attract negative attention to himself.
Earning money from transferring trademarks is out of the question; it's not some awesome name, and others would just re-register a new one.
Currently, the two-wheeled electric vehicle company with the largest market share is Xinri, located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, the one endorsed by Jackie Chan.
Those born in the 80s and 90s should have some impression of this advertisement.
However, later on, this company's market share was gradually eroded.
As for companies endorsed by Jackie Chan, those who know, know; there's no need to worry too much.
Speaking of two-wheeled electric vehicles, commonly known as e-bikes or electric bikes, their development history spans many years.
As early as 1985, the year Tan Jincheng was born, China's first electric bicycle was born, produced by Shanghai Forever Factory.
However, this electric bicycle could only travel 30 kilometers and couldn't climb hills.
Compared to a motorcycle, it had no competitive advantage whatsoever, and predictably, it failed.
It remained dormant for over a decade.
It wasn't until 1999, with the release of the national standard for general technical conditions for electric bicycles, that the door opened for the commercialization of e-bikes.
Xinri entered the market around that time.
Incidentally, Xinri's boss had an even lower education than Tan Jincheng, only a junior high school graduate.
No matter what business it is, Wenzhou people are never absent!
Although the national standard was released in '99, the truly landmark event for the e-bike industry's development was last year, in 2004.
Last year, 40 BMW 850 motorcycles were retired by a certain department in the Imperial Capital! After this, major cities began a new round of stricter motorcycle bans.
In the same year, the new traffic law was issued, explicitly classifying electric bicycles as "non-motorized vehicles" for the first time.
This also meant that without any permits, simply by spending two or three thousand yuan, one could own a means of transport to roam around the city, and demand naturally doubled year after year.
Entering the market at this time might seem a bit late, but it's not late at all.
Just like the foreign trade industry, electric bicycles are currently a very clear incremental market, and producing them doesn't require any special qualifications.
For manufacturers, as long as they can buy reliable batteries, motors, and controllers – these three main components – and the quality isn't too poor, they can make money.
Furthermore, with good cost control, the profit margins are not low.
Although Tan Jincheng isn't fully knowledgeable about this industry yet, through preliminary research, he knows which well-known electric bicycles will exist in China over the next 20 years.
Surely, he can assign people to monitor competitors' moves?
For example, Tan Jincheng doesn't know when Aima was registered and established, but he knows that Jay Chou has endorsed it.
As a fan of Jay Chou, it's impossible not to know this.
With Jay Chou's fame, Aima gained national recognition.
Wouldn't it be possible to poach that? There's nothing wrong with a fan asking his idol to endorse his company, right?
He's read many transmigration web novels.
He wouldn't transmigrate to become a star and plagiarize songs, but he could always sing a couple of lines from the songs Jay Chou released in later years.
Maybe Jay Chou would then feel that this true fan is a kindred spirit, and the endorsement fee could be a bit cheaper, haha.
"Hey, what are you thinking about, laughing so slyly?"
Tan Jincheng's daydream of "shearing Jay Chou's wool" was interrupted by Zhang Xupeng pushing him awake.
"What?"
"What's what? Dinner's ready. Sun Ge and Liu Ge bought the food back. What were you thinking about so intently?"
"Really? Haha, nothing,"
Tan Jincheng said with a laugh.
Sun Yuming even brought a small bottle of liquor.
With alcohol and meat, it was pretty good.
A 2000 yuan standard work meal for 4 people, extremely luxurious!
"Eat and drink more tonight to make up for not going to Dongguan,"
the recovered Tan Jincheng said, nudging Zhang Xupeng with his shoulder.
The room wasn't big.
They pulled the small table over, set up the drinks, and with four people squeezed in, there was no space to sit except on the bed.
But they were all young men, and no one cared about such things.
Seeing Sun Yuming pouring the wine, Tan Jincheng was the first to raise a disposable cup and say,
"Come, let's toast, a toast to our triumphant beginning."
"Come, cheers, wishing our company more and more prosperity!"
Zhang Xupeng responded.
Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin also raised their glasses one after another.
Although they hadn't been with the company for long and didn't have much sense of belonging, at this moment, they truly felt honored.
Although they weren't involved in the negotiation process, they went to Dongguan together.
They say there are three "irons" for men, and this counts as one.
"Cheers!"
After a glass of wine, the atmosphere became much livelier.
Zhang Xupeng no longer fretted about not being able to go out.
He was the most miserable among them, going from the exhibition hall to the hotel daily, having been nowhere else.
He had supposedly come to Guangzhou and stayed for almost a month, but it was as if he hadn't been there at all.
"Next, you need to learn to take orders yourselves. Sun Ge and Liu Ge don't need to cause trouble anymore; just focus on taking orders. I can teach you if you don't know how."
Reporting others really can't be done anymore.
Today, a clothing company from the Imperial Capital called Malasiya was actually cleared out of the exhibition hall in the apparel section.
And I heard that companies from other product sections were also directly cleared out.
It seems the inspections are really strict this year.
Fortunately, Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin stayed at the booth all day today, avoiding some suspicion.
But it's definitely something that can't be done again, otherwise, if discovered, not only these two would get beaten, but perhaps even I and Zhang Xupeng would.
For my own safety, I can't go too far.
I didn't expect them to be serious this time.
"Boss, are you serious?"
Sun Yuming eagerly interjected when Tan Jincheng said he would teach them how to take orders.
The more steady Liu Wenbin's eyes also lit up.
Only Zhang Xupeng didn't realize the weight of these words; of course, he didn't need to pay attention to them.
Boss Tan's ability to secure orders is evident to all.
These days, the number of business or sales personnel is huge.
Those without capital to start a business will go into sales or business development.
For no other reason than that the educational and technical barriers are low, and it's commission-based work – if you have the ability, you make money quickly.
Work for a few years, accumulate some capital, and broaden your horizons, and you'll have a huge advantage, whether in your influence within the company or starting your own business.
A top salesperson, a sales champion; can walk sideways in a company.
But it's not easy for a salesperson to become excellent.
Every excellent salesperson has their own tricks.
If they could learn even a little from Boss Tan's outstanding order-taking ability, it would be extremely beneficial.
"Of course it's true, why would I lie to you?"
Tan Jincheng smiled.
There were also his own considerations for doing this.
Before a startup company gets on track, it entirely depends on the boss's personal ability to sustain it.
But once it's on track, that approach can no longer be used.
Moreover, after returning, Tan Jincheng would invest more energy into his own ventures, and naturally, his attention to Jinpeng Trading could not be as it was now.
So, he needed to cultivate Zhang Xupeng's ability to take orders independently and also get him two qualified salespersons.
Otherwise, if he had to step in every time, what would be the point?
In that case, after one year, Jinpeng Trading's foundation would largely be established.
Tan Jincheng didn't have big ambitions for Jinpeng Trading.
He just wanted to enjoy the best few years of dividends from the import and export business, safely navigate the 2008 financial crisis, and then maintain a certain scale.
As for whether to transition to something else in the future or simply deregister the company and retire, that would be Zhang Xupeng's own business.
Exports also had a period of exchange rate dividends.
By maintaining the current aggressive posture and persisting until 2010, Zhang Xupeng's dividends would be at least tens of millions.
Buying a few houses and retiring comfortably would be no problem.
The choice to teach some business-taking tips to Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin was also not made without consideration.
Currently, Jinpeng Trading couldn't recruit particularly excellent talent, and these two were generally quite good after evaluation.
Sun Yuming was clever, quick-witted, and could play some small tricks.
Liu Wenbin was a year older than Sun Yuming and more steady, but that didn't mean he was an honest person; honest people couldn't do sales.
If they could be trained to become helpers, that would be best.
If not, or if they truly learned skills and then left, there would be no loss; it would just be considered an opportunity.
After resolving a series of ties from past and present lives, it was time for him to set sail!
(End of this chapter)
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